How closely is the Mayor of Victoria following the ongoing controversy over the Johnson Street Bridge, and the embarrassing failure of the City of Victoria’s attempts to ‘consult’ Victorians on its fate?

‘Philistine Dean’ thinks he can do so by remote control, as he is on vacation somewhere now, in the run-up to the most expensive decision the Victoria City Council has ever forced itself to make, leaving the hapless Councillor Madoff as his stand-in ‘deputy mayor.’

Our household has not received any of the expensive pro-replacement propaganda from the City in the regular mail delivery, but we have decided not to alert them to hand deliver said propaganda, as it would only add to the expense of a ludicrous and already too-costly sham process.

The City has only received 1,200 filled-out forms, while having apparently sent out some 25,000 packages with return postage guaranteed.

What a waste…

Almost 10,000 people signed the citizens’ petition asking for a referendum on the JSB.

We didn’t ask for sham propaganda for replacing the heritage bascule in the interim.

Whatever the Council decides on August 12 should be rejected.

Both replacement and refurbishment options are ridiculously overpriced, extravagant and unaffordable, or to use a much abused expression, ‘unsustainable’ for taxpayers.

We are still in recession, but apparently the City Council didn’t notice, as they have just raised our taxes in a deflationary period, again.

The bridge will not fall down, nor will it be closed, but this Council will be sent packing after the 2011 elections, that is for sure.

Linda Darby, Virginia SmallFry and Jane Storrier, three long-time friends who occasionally exhibit together, are doing it again, starting tonight at 7:00 p. m. through to 9:00 p.m. in the MacPherson Playhouse lobby.

The three women have entitled the show ‘Cows, Queens and Subconscious Dreams,’ referring to the subject matter of Storrier, Darby and SmallFry, in that order of reference.

A poster advertising the opening reception shows ‘Queen Clytemnestra,’ an acrylic by Linda Darby, ‘Tea for Two,’ a portrait in oil and mixed media of Virginia SmallFry’s husband James Fry, and ‘Indian Cow,’ an acrylic by Jane Storrier.

The lobby gallery is open during performances in the playhouse, or by appointment: 250 361-0800.

The artists would like to thank the Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria, the MacPherson Playhouse and the City of Victoria for help in staging their three women’s show.

My wife Dawn Keough and I are looking forward to attending this opening reception with keen interest, to see our old friends once again, and to see what new cows, queens and subconscious dreams they have brought to their canvases.

When the B. C. Supreme Court’s Madame Justice Ross found that the City of Victoria had infringed on the Charter-protected rights of some of the indigent homeless by arresting activists who camped in Cridge Park, Beacon Hill Park and Centennial Square, she said that as long as there was a shortage of shelter beds for them, the City of Victoria had a legal and ethical responsibility to allow them to sleep at night in public parks during hours set by the City of Victoria itself.

That was a kind of Pyrrhic victory, in that it made the newly-elected City Council under socialist Mayor Dean Fortin look heartless and inept.

Madame Ross’ ruling also highlighted the deficiencies in the City of Victoria’s social welfare system, while giving the poor a symbolic victory, but one which would allow the City to continue to ignore their basic needs for supervised social housing, abstinence treatment and holistic health care, while also abusing the long-suffering neighbours as the most anti-social criminal unhealthy behaviour of the sickest of them became increasingly intolerable.

Now the Fortin Council pretends that ‘there ‘s little it can do [about problems in front of Our Place] since a court ruling that camping in parks is legal and Pandora Green is classified as a park,’ according to an article by Bill Cleverley in today’s Times Colonist.

‘Pandora Green’ is not a park, it’s a disgraceful anarchic DEATH CULTURE black market, part of a so-called ‘harm reduction’ strategy which is actually officially promoted by the Victoria City Council.

It should not be allowed to be abused as it now is, even if it was a real park.

It is a boulevard bounded on all sides by moving traffic, some of it, on Pandora Avenue, Vancouver Street, Quadra Street and Cook Street, very fast-moving traffic.

Recently an apparently intoxicated person died at the Quadra and Pandora corner.

It is just a matter of time before we will hear of deaths from overdoses on the so-called ‘Pandora Green.’

Will the Fortin Council then continue to pretend that its so-called ‘harm reduction’ strategy is working?

Will the Fortin Council continue the pretense that because this area is supposedly a park, that it cannot do anything about the chaos that is rampant there at all hours of the day and night?

Will the Fortin Council continue to be in denial about its own dereliction of duty in enabling of anti-social crime, dangerous public injection activities and untreated addiction diseases?

Re: “NDP joins Chong at table,” editorial, and “Nervous New Democrats back Chong,” July 17.

“Bon appetit!” seems to be the stock answer of many local politicians when it comes to their own “healthy living.”

We now know that at least three New Democratic members of the legislature see no problem with the outrageous $5,921 meal expenses claims for 2009 of B. C. Liberal Healthy Living Minister Ida Chong.

These NDP MLAs would appear to prefer not to have to disclose their meal expenses claims to the scrutiny of the taxpaying public.

This is all wonderfully good news for those who, like me, distrust both parties.

What voters in British Columbia and Victoria Beacon Hill really want to know is this: What does the leader of the Opposition, New Democratic Party Leader Carole James, have to say about these notorious meal-expense claims and the shameful secrecy that keeps this information pertaining to the spending habits of members of the legislature from the public?

A solution to feeding Ida Chong and all the MLAs, that is in keeping with this government’s desire to manage our tax money, is obvious.

Ministers Kevin Falcon and Colin Hansen can simply expand the quantity of healthy, nutritious meals prepared for the patients in our hospitals and have them delivered to the legislature.

If meals prepared in Alberta, trucked and trained across our province, thawed and heated overnight and “warmed up” before serving is adequate for those frail and sick recovering in the hospital, why it must be good enough for our legislators!

I am certain you can find one VIHA dietitian who will vouch for the nutritional level of this, um, food.

These meals can be heated up at any time just in case the MLAs are busy during regular eating hours, and served right at the legislature!

Think of the savings.

I suggest that the party leaders and cabinet members be the first to say, “bring on the scrambled eggs and oatmeal.”